A Question of Time
by Seikatsu32
Summary: You know there is a problem when the barrier between reality and fiction disappears. Does that make fiction reality? Or are you just insane? This is the question Aaron or Rhys, asks himself everyday. Yaoi but no lemon, M for language and violence, OC
1. Entry 1

_Hi everyone. This is my first story to be posted online…Yikes! I would appreciate feedback, but it is not required by any means. In this story there will be really bad language used. Also the main character is gay. Just wanted to let readers know beforehand so I don't get angry PMs about it. However there will be NO sex scenes, I cannot write about that, WAY too embarrassing… Anyway this is the first chapter hope it catches some people's interests. _

_I don't own anything... If I did, I certainly wouldn't be writing this.  
_

* * *

**Question of Time**

The weather outside is horrible. Twenty mile an hour winds and pouring rain. On a Saturday too. However today is going to be a great day. Why you ask? Well today is the day that I am finally going to buy the new Pokemon white. Yes very, very dorky for a 19 year old to be as excited over this as I am, but these games are damn addictive and when you have been working, having a social life and going to school too you need these guilty pleasures... Anyways, the plan is to pop some popcorn, make some hot chocolate and play the game until midnight. I have it all planned out too, my friend has eggs of pokemon I can't get in white and is willing to trade them to me and I have pokemon from my previous game that I am going to transfer over. Yes! I can't wait! Fred Meyer's here I come!

**Later today…**

Well I got the game after a huge battle. It is the second day of release in English so it was almost all sold. This one was the last Pokemon white to go and it had been opened previously, luckily all the things were still there and they promised a full refund if the game didn't work. So my plan is now in progress. I have the popcorn made and the cocoa done. Time to start!

* * *

**May 17, 20XX**

**Day 1:**

I turn on the game. The crappy cheerful music filters tinny through the sound system of my Nintendo DS. I immediately turn the sound off. The music has always bothered me. I settled myself comfortably on my bed and take a handful of popcorn.

As the Game Freak logo zooms over the screen the whole thing flashes blinding white then goes black. I stare dumbfounded at it. Of _course_ it just _had_ to be broken! After all that hassle at the store I will still have to bring it back! Jesus! Should I even bother doing it today or just give up? My mood sours considerably, so much for a perfect day today. Just as I was about to cuss venomously at the game and throw the worthless piece of junk across the room the screen came alive again. It started running as if nothing happened. Maybe I just need to charge my DS… I root through my cord box and pull out the charger and hook it up. It seems fine, thank god.

The pregame clip showing some white haired dude with a funky red scifi eye piece came on. The whole Catholic Church wanna-be thing was amusing, but who am I to judge; the game is POKEMON for Christ's sake what else do you expect but randomness. Also when the young dude walked down the aisle, I totally thought he was a girl getting married. I haven't stopped sniggering yet. Why do I enjoy this so much? Well my good mood has been restored… I settle back comfortably again. That was close. Laziness commence…

The clip continues showing the crowning, the hail Hitler salute and the two creepy girls and goes on to gameplay simulations with "moving" words on them like "Hope, Dream, Discover" and so forth. Getting bored I skip through that to the start screen. The image of a huge black monster thing appears. That must be the "character" for white. I can't remember his name, and truthfully the legendary pokemon that you can find easily through the story are not exciting. I like the pokemon that require a bit of effort to get. Like that new fox that starts with a "Z" and Arceus. Since I bought the game in the allowed time I will get the Victini which is cool.

I started a new game and of course the choices for gender and name came up. I chose my Gender as Boy and Name as Rhys. I always use that name and don't ask why. It was randomly thought up when I first played pokemon red. Maybe I had a crush on Reese Witherspoon… Was she even popular when I was 7? Dunno, whatever, continuing on to the game. As you can see my thought process is not exactly linear.

After the stupid professor intro it finally over I am pleasantly surprised to find I have two rivals. That's new. Their names are Cheren and Bianca. Bianca looks like she has an acorn hat and Cheren sounds like a girl's name. Cool, that's twice the battles and twice the money… The kanji for summer pops up after. Seasons too apparently. I really like how they make these games more and more complex. It makes it more interesting. I watch the Professor Juniper go into what I assume is my house and then leave.

Finally the game truly starts. By now I had finished that hot chocolate and was starting on the popcorn. The mixture of the two tastes lingering in my mouth was interesting but not unpleasant. Since no one else was home I had the whole bag to myself, yes!

The screen pans to inside the house and my character is reviled. It is really awesome how cute the chibi characters are now. Cheren starts complaining about how childish Bianca is because she is late. I agree and snort in laughter, which is COMPLETELY not dorky: to express agreement towards a game. After that Cheren does this twitch and a "Huh?" speech bubble appears over his head. I wait a second Bianca appears and Cheren after a few seconds, starts berating her for her lateness. She takes it good heartedly and FINALLY we can choose pokemon.

I actually don't know about any of the pokemon this season so I am going to choose based on coolness. I scroll through the choices. A fat pig, a funky clown thing and a pokemon that looks like treeko. That last one was the most tolerable. The other two were weird looking. Even though I usually stick to the water and NEVER the grass I thought, why not, let's switch this up a bit. So I chose Snivy, Bianca Oshewott and Cheron Tepig. Then as usual, we had to test out these pokemon that were gifted to us from the professor. However Cheron said that fighting indoors might make a mess and it was silly. "Whatever, it's my room I wanna battle." I muttered absent mindedly. Bianca turned to Cheren and her little bubble said, "See Rhys wants to battle, like you said, it's not like they are strong or anything yet." So the battle was on!

First off I battled Bianca. At the moment there was no type advantage attacks for either of them and they both just knew tackle. After trading blows I of course won because Snivy went first and I just used tackle instead of adding a leer or two. I started continuously clicking the A button to get through it. After a cliché complement from Bianca after my win, we saw the disaster that was my poke room. I laughed, even though I knew that this would happen. Cheren turned his little chibi icon to me and his speech bubble said, "Don't laugh Rhys, this is a very childish move from both of you." He then turned to Bianca and said something similar and then healed our pokemon. Bianca sensing weakness, in my opinion, flattered Cheren. As he puffed up from the compliment, I moved on to Cheren who bragged he could battle tidier. While harder than Bianca, after just clicking A continuously, I won. After that both those two went downstairs and I was finally free to save and check out the nature of my pokemon. He had a "Gentle" nature and was "somewhat stubborn." No idea what that meant, but truth be told it sounded wussy, but I couldn't be bothered to restart. I saved the game and turned it off.

I sat up and stretched, it was time to move around for a bit. As I once said I don't have the greatest attention span in the world so sitting still and staring at a screen can only be tolerated for so long. Time to check the book of faces and other useless stuff. Which mostly involves a screen…I just contradicted myself.

School has been a bitch lately, my motivation for it waxes and wanes like the moon. I am hoping to become a veterinarian. I love animals and love discovering things. But I have mixed feelings about school; Bio is great, Math and Chem not so much. Also there is a LOT of school involved. 8 friggin years of college… I am on my second year of my undergrad and hate it so far. Mostly the chemistry but I am also taking Calculus which sucks too. Work has also been draining I work part time at a local department store in the apparel section and I must say I have begun to hate people. I mean, I find people are too lazy to even fold jeans in half, length wise! I would love to see those peoples' houses. I find the people who are overly messy just because it's not "theirs" selfish and retarded. A little consideration would be nice!

Okay mental rant over, let's get off the subject of work before I grab my speakerphone and begin a riot.

And you guys think I'm kidding… It is a distinct possibility.

Social life is like zip. My friends are as busy as I, so we meet up less frequently than we all would like and I haven't had a boyfriend in a year.

Yes that's right I said boyfriend….and I am a boy… well done! Yes I'm gay, whatever I don't really announce it to the masses, it just so happens I like boys. And no, I am not a promiscuous whore, I am actually still a ….well that sound lame to be proud of nowadays so I won't say it.

All in all a very normal person. Boring in fact. I mean a highlight to my week was to go out and buy Pokemon! Speaking of which I want to go back and finish that popcorn before it gets cold.

Back to the game…

When I turned it back on it did that weird flash thing again, but started up normally. Hopefully that is the only thing wrong with it. I still might take it back tomorrow, but right now I was having fun. I started back where I left off, in my room. I walk downstairs. Entering the room I see Cheren and Bianca facing a lady I am guessing is my mother. Bianca apologizes about the mess, I snort, "So, trash my room and run huh?" Bianca's little icon turns in my direction and then faces the lady again, "Ummm… We can help clean up…"

My mom, according to the speech bubble, says, "No worries, I will clean up. Shouldn't you go see the Professor now?" This game is so sexist. No worries, she will do all the housework because that is what women do. Cheren quickly accepts this and runs out to the lab. After Bianca's little exclamation about visiting her house first she follows. My mother with her magic healing powers fixes my Snivy and gives me the **Xtransceiver** (pronounced "cross-transceiver"). Why not just spell it that way then? Whatever, as usual the beginning of the game has so much dialogue, I start clicking A faster. Finally I can leave the house and do a bit of exploring of Nuvema Town. Bianca is in the southwestern house, and when I go inside, she's in an argument with her father and storms off. After she's done that, I go to Prof. Juniper's lab in the northwestern part of town. There wasn't much else anyway other than check out Cheren's house in the southeast corner of town, but he's sort of waiting at the lab anyway.

I walk to the back of the lab and Professor Juniper says a bunch of stuff, but ultimately asks if I'd like to give your Pokemon a nickname. I answer yes and the first name that comes to mind is Kvoth. It comes from a awesome fantasy book I had been reading recently. I also find it funny that in a town of, like, four houses we have never met the professor. Apparently that was her introduction to us. Poor lady had to bribe us with pokemon to get us down there…

After some more dialogue, Prof. Juniper gives us the **Pokedex**. Woohoo! That's what I've been waiting for! I didn't have to deliver parcel or anything to get it, either! At this point I am just clicking A really fast to speed this up. The beginning of the game SUCKS!

Finally the Professor leaves and we are free to be! I leave the lab with the other two tagging behind me when mom shows up and is all proud of me and stuff, and then she gives all three of us a **Town Map**, which lets me take a look at the Unova region in depth. The world layout is pretty cool looking.

I take a good look at Kvoth, he seems pretty lame stat wise compared to previous games, but that might make the game more fun, and a challenge. The little blurb on the pokedex states that they photosynthesis with their tails. Fascinating.

That, my friends, is sarcasm…

I stretch my body for a sec and was about to head towards route 1 when my game flashed again. The light was blinding and hurt my eyes. Sonovabich! I closed my eyes and dropped the game onto my bed. With tears streaming down my face I sat up from my slouched position and scrubbed my eyes vigorously. Friggin game was going back. There should be a warning label, "If game is damaged it might shoot lasers" or something. Finally my eyes regained their use and I reached for the game to turn it off.

I shot a very cautious glance at the screen before shutting it off. What I saw changed my life as I knew it…

* * *

_We have finally reached the point in this random narrative that I explain why the heck I am recapping this. I bet you guys are all like, "Who the f*** cares? We've played the game too we KNOW what happens. This is boring as hell." Well the reason I gave that long winded intro was to, well… introduce the rest of the story. Because that is what this is: a story about a lame ass guy playing what he thought was a lame ass video game and something happens. In this story I will include journal intros, like above, (no it is NOT a diary, I'm gay not a girl…) and present time explanation to clear things up a bit. I am no author so the style is not professional and the tenses of the verbs may be funky depending on the entry. I have done my best to make this as linear as possible and as clear as my personality will allow. Hopefully this book will bring up questions about the line between reality and what we call fiction._

* * *

**Day 1 con**.

I picked up the DS and almost dropped it, in my fumbling catch my finger slid the volume back on. However the obnoxious music was not playing.

On the screen there seemed to be a video recording in like, HD or something. On the screen there was vivid picture of a small town center. People were bustling around and passing very close to the camera. The landscape was very well maintained, quiet homely and quant. Someone had spent a lot of time on the foliage and flowers because they were lovingly tended to and artfully done. The main street was mostly for pedestrians, and it had the feel of a small European villa.

I stared at my DS agast. What the heck? I didn't download any movies onto it. Wait was it even possible to do that on a DS? "Please tell me this stupid game hasn't glitched up my DS or I downloaded something nasty…" I spoke aloud, now sitting on the edge of my bed peering intently at the small screen.

Suddenly a passerby on the screen faced the camera. It was an older man who was dressed smartly in a sports jacket and slacks, "Are you okay kid, you look like you've seen a ghost."

I sat quietly, waiting for the person he was talking to reply.

"Hello…. Kid are you okay? Do you need a hospital." The man's face which had previously just had a polite expression grew tight with mild concern.

I kept waiting. This must be some new promo or something.

Finally the man turned away hurriedly and grabbed another person's arm that was standing behind him waiting, "Tory, I think there is something wrong, could you go call the office and tell them I'll be late. This boy is not responding and he looks like he experienced a shock of some sort. I'll take him to the doctor." The man behind him nodded vigorously, glanced in the camera's direction and pulled out a phone.

This was interesting; maybe it was an interactive movie, trying to make you feel like you were in it. Goosebumps, movie style. I got up, still carrying the DS and went out to the living room. I was getting hungry and there were hotdogs and apples in the fridge…

"Okay here's what we are going to do… I am going to call the ambulance and we are going to sit over there in the shade for a bit. Does that sound okay?" The man had adapted a very soothing calm voice that typically is used for small children, scared animals or the mentally disturbed. I snort.

The man suddenly glanced up, "Is something funny, can you talk to me about it. Here we are let's sit here." The camera started moving as I saw the man gently grab a person's hand and pull it towards the shaded park bit that was lined with benches.

Funny that hand seem like a disembodied hand. Like when you are wearing those sport cameras that attach to your helmet and you glance down your body to see hands and feet. So the camera from this movie was being held by someone. And that someone was the person the Good Samaritan was talking to. Clever.

I flop onto the couch and stretch. The pain in my eyes almost forgotten. I get distracted easily…

In the movie the man was still trying to persuade the main character to do something. It was beginning to draw a crowd of people who were slowly forming a circle around the action like people normally do. It annoys me when people do that, way to escalate the situation people!

"Leave the poor guy alone will you?" I mutter absent mindedly waiting for something to happen. Suddenly the man jerked back into view, "Which poor guy? Is there someone who is bothering you? Is that the reason you are silent?"

Okay that is disturbing, I frown and sit up. That is almost exactly what I said, and I haven't heard the main character speak yet. A crazy random idea popped into my head. I leaned forward and said, "What's your name and where am I?"

The man finally smiled and leaned back, his voice was still soft and carful, "My name is Davis Johnson, I am a cardiologist. You are in Nuevima Town probably to get your pokemon license. I just saw you leave the professor's lab when you fell down."

My heart starts beating faster. Baadum.…baadum…Baadum...

No way, I am just jumping to weird conclusions. There has to be a logical explanation for this. Maybe this is a super high tech version of the game that was intractable…

I try again, to prove it was just a fluke, "Ummm…So what's the date today?" I rack my brains for a super specific question to ask that will prove it is fluke, "Who is the president?" Stupid question! Why the hell did I ask that? What had that to do with anything…

Again the man, Davis, stayed calm and didn't even blink an eye at the questions, "Today is the May 17, 2012. Currently the president is Daryl Goodman and his partner Gertile the Emboar. We are in the Unova region and I think you might have hit your head when you fell or you were attacked by a psychic or ghost pokemon. I have called an ambulance and they will be here soon. I just want you to relax and tell me what you can remember."

My hands were shaking and I found I was standing up. In a desperate attempt to once again prove that this was insane or that someone was playing an elaborate prank on me I pushed the up button on the DS.

The camera lurched forward and I saw the disembodied feet take several steps.

"It's Okay! I want you to calm down and take a few breaths. Sit back down and talk to me. So tell me… what's your name and age." The "Davis" swung in front of the camera and it bumped into him. I let go of the button and saw him push it back into the position previously.

If what my crazy brain is telling me the truth, then that camera is me…. Or at least a form of me. That means I am like sitting inside that person's mind and watching through his eyes. Does that mean I have control of this person's body through the DS? No it is just a computer game. There is no way I am seeing into a different world. That would be impossible…

"Rhys Patterson." I used a last name that wasn't in the game, "I'm 16." When in doubt lie.

"I see Rhys Patterson. Do you have family close by? Judging by the age you probably just **did** start your pokemon journey…" The computer simulation asked me sweetly.

When he said my name I almost had a heart attack. My hand clenched and I accidently clicked the menu button on my DS. To my astonishment it came up, showing the usual things, my party, the pokedex, and my items. There was also a save button. In a panic, I clicked that and turned off the game. Then quickly ripped it out of my DS, breathing like I had run a marathon.

My hands were shaking and my heart racing. I mean wouldn't yours if you just realized you were going insane and hallucinating? Because that was all it was… A hallucination right?

BANG!

I let out a yelp, and spun around, crouched in a defensive posture…

To see my older brother staring at me with raised eyebrows. He had just come in the front door, home from school and about to head to work. I sighed and straitened. Here it comes…

"What was THAT?" Nick my bro started cracking up hysterically, "Seriously, you should have seen your face, PURE TERROR!" tears were almost streaming down his face as he wheezed for breath.

"Asshole!" I thumped him on the back making him fall to his knees still clutching his ribs from laughing. I stormed out of the living room to the kitchen. I hadn't eaten that hotdog yet.

My brother followed me still chuckling, "Dude Aaron, what freaked you out so bad? That was the first genuine look of terror I have ever inspired from you."

Taking the orange juice carton from the fridge I gulped down a few mouthfuls, "Nothing, just watched a freaky movie and it made me start thinking too much." Because that was all it was, a freaky movie that was too realistic…

If only that was true…


	2. Entry 2

_Hi its me again... I just wanted put this chap up too. I will probably slow down the uploads from here on out but hopefully every few days or so there will be a new chapter. I have found that this fic gets kinda dark, so the happy goofy vibe you feel from Rhys here won't stay for the whole story. Also I apologize for all the grammatical errors, even though I am pretty well read I can't seem to get the hang of grammar. Any constructive criticism will be gladly accepted, and any advice in general would be welcome too. I would also gladly accept a beta reader if anyone is interested. It would keep me motivated, which can be a challenge for me. Thanks for your time!_

* * *

_**Denial**_

_**Denial**__ is probably one of the best known defense mechanisms, used often to describe situations in which people seem unable to face reality or admit an obvious truth (i.e. "He's in denial."). Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring. Drug addicts or alcoholics often deny that they have a problem, while victims of traumatic events may deny that the event ever occurred. _

_Denial functions to protect the ego from things that the individual cannot cope with. While this may save us from anxiety or pain, denial also requires a substantial investment of energy. Because of this, other defenses are also used to keep these unacceptable feelings from consciousness._

* * *

_Looking back on it now, I actually think I handled that suspiciously. Most people would have given up on the game as soon as it blinded them. Maybe a part of me was wishing for something like that to happen. All my childhood games involved me being transported to another world full of magic and heroes, so maybe a part of that child never left. _

_Anyway, despite my obvious denial I still manage to forget about the incident for a whole month. It still boggles me that I could put it from my mind like that, but I put it down to a stress induced hallucination. At the time I was applying to the Veterinary College and was taking more hours at work, not to mention the mandatory "volunteer" work that took up every last spare moment. I woke up at 4 in the morning and fell asleep at midnight regularly. So maybe it was a valid excuse, but an excuse nonetheless. _

_But soon, my exhaustion got the better of me and I finally had one full day to relax. That is the day I found the game behind my bed. How it got there is a mystery, I was in the living room when I threw it. A part of me wonders what my life would be like now if my curiosity didn't get the better of me and I threw the game away. Would I be a veterinarian that I had worked so hard towards? Would I still be able to see my friends and family? Probably, but you can't change the past in that world. It is a solid thing that the other worlds twine around, interconnecting here and there…_

_Anyway the point is I caved to my curiosity and that was that._

* * *

**Day 37 since the opening of the game**

Sooooo bored. I have not had free time in like a month and I don't know how to have fun anymore…

I stretch and contemplate. Should I go out? I need to do some shopping, but that was more of a chore than fun. Most of my friends were busy and this new guy I met, Patrick, was visiting family over in New York. Summer vacation had started, and while I was doing summer school, there was a week I had off of work and school to have some fun. And this was only day one and I was already bored, pretty pathetic.

Sighing to myself I glanced around the disaster that is my room. Dirty and clean clothes were intermixed on the floor, empty cans of energy drinks and candy bar wrappers littered all other surfaces. Maybe a quick clean up would make me motivated to do something.

When I finally reached my bed, I bent over to glance underneath. Once I had neglected to do so and found months later a big hairy ball of mold. No idea what it used to be, but it made my mother scream; which is a feat because she never does, not even when she sees a snake, which she hates.

Underneath my bed was decent, just a pair of dirty socks. When I grabbed those, inside I felt something hard. Curious but cautious, because who knows what it could be, I pulled the thing out of my sock. It was the Pokemon game.

I thumped down on my bed still staring at it. Why did it freak me out so much? All I remember was the stupid thing glitched out on me and almost blinded me. As I thought harder about it I could feel my pulse speed up. I glared at the chip angrily, I was NOT afraid of a little game chip. I was NOT a five year old. Whatever scared me was probably just exhaustion, so why not now, when I have had my first full night sleep in a month, retry it? I grinned, activity acquired.

The game started with its characteristic flash that I remembered and came to the main menu. _Continue?_ Yes! However I still only had one pokemon and hadn't even left Nuevima Town. I must have not felt like playing it…

The game popped up with the little "me chibi" icon. I started walking towards route 1. When I got there I saw my two friends, Sharon and Blanche or whatever their names are, standing there waiting for me. Apparently they wanted to step into Route 1 together. This was their first time out of the town? Talk about isolation: that would drive me crazy.

I clicked A vigorously as Professor Juniper explains how to catch a pokemon. I KNOW already, I have ONLY just played THREE of the other games! Soon it was over though and route 1 was mine for the exploring. After agreeing to the stupid pokemon catching competition, I wandered through the grass. Because my Snivy, Kvoth, beat both the other two, it was now on level 6. WaaaWhooo! I fought multiple patrats and lilipups which seemed to be the only pokemon around. I also caught one each. Named my patrat Francesca and my lilipup Jefferson. Awesome names, I know. I love to think of the most random names for pokemon, it is funny to read. "Francesca, do tackle!" sounds way more hilarious than Patrat.

I hung around route 1 a little longer leveling up all three pokemon. I am the sort of player that levels up ALL my pokemon in my team, and since Francesca and Jefferson were the only other two pokemon I had, I leveled them too. I was careful to make sure none fainted and I went back to "mother" when I needed to be healed. I like to raise the "happiness" of pokemon. I find that oddly fun. When they had all reached level 9 I decided to move on.

Probably 15 min passed before I noticed anything strange. The screen was very gradually getting lighter. I only noticed because I suddenly realized I was squinting and had to blink a few times.

Stupid game! I leaned back and put the game down on my lap. This thing was broken. Shame it was too late to get my money back for it. As I was reaching down to push the off button on the front of my DS, a weird, hot tingling sensation started at my fingertips. I pulled back thinking an electric shock, but it continued and traveled up my arm and down my back.

As I jumped up frantically the DS dropped to the floor face up. I let out a shout as my room lit up…and then there was nothing.

* * *

Consciousness came, like always for me, very slowly. The first thing on my mind was my school schedule, was I late? I bolted up right, swinging my legs over my bed and… THUMP! My body collided with a wall that shouldn't be there.

I heard a muffled snort of laughter quickly covered up. When I scrambled upright I finally noticing the stark white walls and crisp white linin. This was not my bed. Glancing around frantically, I saw I was in a hospital. Machines monitoring heart rate and beds lined the room. Memories flooded back to me, I wasn't surprised I was in a hospital, I mean, I blacked out. What a wuss…

So the hospital itself didn't bother me it was what was in it that did.

A huge pink wombat on two legs was staring at me from two feet away. I froze, not believing my eyes, was I still uncountious? But that thump against the wall really hurt…

"Hey Rhys, you finally woke up. You really scared me fainting as you did." A vaguely familiar voice came from the other side of the pink wombat that I was doing a staring contest with. I never lose pink wombat, I NEVER lose staring contests, BRING IT!

Finally the wombat blinked and cooed this strange sound that almost sounded human, "Audddinno.." and did this chirpy wiggly thing with its paws, hands, whatever. I backed off hastily.

"It's okay Rhys, she just wants to check your head for injuries." A man stepped from behind the creature that was trying to touch me. He was wearing scrubs and had a clean cut face, black hair and a strong jaw that was pleasant to look at. So familiar… where have I seen him before?

"Do you remember me? We met outside of Juniper's lab. You had an incident and then fainted. I am Davis Johnson. I work here so I have been caring for you these last few days. This is my pokemon Halo, she is an Audino and very sweet. She won't hurt you."

Again that thing approached. I moved back and racked my brains. When finally the name and face hit me, the nearby monitor started screaming. My heart rate was obviously going waaay to fast. Just as that thought occurred to me everything began to get dizzy. No way… fainting twice… I heard Davis the computer projection or whatever shout. My head was pushed down and I was held tight by something furry.

I struggled feebly but that pink thing was MUCH stronger than it looked. After a few minutes I went limp. I was exhausted and confused, and my coping mechanism now was anger.

"Who the HELL are you? And where the HELL am I? Let me the F*** go!" I meant to shout that, but when I am scared and angry my voice always goes flat and emotionless. People tell me it is scary.

"Again I am Davis Johnson. This is my private practice on the edge of Nuevima Town, I am a cardiologist. I picked you up when you passed out in the town center and brought you here. You have been out for 3 days. Do you have family I can contact? I am sorry, I looked through your things to find a phone number, but I couldn't find anything…" the man sat on the bed next to me giving me space. He waved the monster wombat away from me, I sighed in relief.

He eyed me closely, "You are not used to pokemon are you. Do you fear them? You shouldn't. That is a huge weakness in today's society, they are everywhere. I can refer you to a therapist"

I glared at him. OF COURSE I was nervous around mutant pink wombats that were half my size! I took a deep breath, "No I am just freaked out altogether. You say Nuevima Town, but what country is that?" I know where that was in the game, but I am desperately hoping, against all evidence, that this is all just a crazy misunderstanding.

Davis looked up; his surprise was quickly covered, "Ah amnesia… Maybe you did have a run in with a pokemon." He leaned forward slightly and his stupid calm expression was back, "This is in the country of Unova. There are several neighboring countries close by, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and a few others… Any ring a bell?"

Yup they did, and it was not a happy bell either. What the hell happened to me?

I turned back to the creature he called an Audino. It was glancing back and forth between Davis and me curiously. That was not pure animal in there; there was an alien intelligence to the creature that made me shiver. I have never encountered something inhuman that I could say was as smart as one, it was unnerving.

Davis watched me watching the, what I assume was a pokemon. Very carefully he said, "You had three pokemon with you, do you want to see them?"

I stared at him blankly for a moment. I had three pokemon? Then my brain, which was finally starting to get into gear, woke up. Of course, if I had somehow magically transported into the game then my pokemon would be the three pokemon from the game, Kvoth, Jefferson and Francesca. Obviously, Duh…

I nodded weakly. I have to admit I was curious and vaguely excited to meet the pokemon I called mine in the game. Though when I was in my room two of them were just crap pokemon that I would put in my box eventually and forget about, now they were real. Or whatever this is, real…hallucination… whatever.

Davis gets up and walks out of the room. Halo stayed, obviously trying to be soothing and failed. Seeing a mutant creature put on a human expression was freaky.

When Davis returned I was not surprised to find him holding three tiny red and white balls. They were marble sized, and when he handed them to me, surprisingly heavy. They had to be two to three pounds apiece. This felt unreal and maybe, a little exciting. I mean, REAL pokemon that are MINE…

* * *

_I stopped right here to explain something. I know when most people back home about pokemon they see those cute anime drawings. Real pokemon are different. In the above journal I described a Audino and looking back I find that I didn't really give it justice. In the pokeworld pokemon are real. They breathe, the move, they bleed and smell, they hurt and die. They obey the laws of physics, well sort of, and are NOT as cute as the drawings in the real world. Those pictures look no more like a true pokemon, than the animated humans look human. Humans are both uglier and more beautiful than those drawings, if that makes sense. They have imperfections that bring out character and inspire more beauty than perfection. Pokemon are the same. They are textured and look alive. Life is something that very few humans can produce on paper._

_I state this because my description of my pokemon in my journals leave a lot to be imagined. How can you describe something to someone who has a preconceived image in their head? It is difficult, so I think my description of them leaves much to be desired. I would produce a picture, but right now when the world is falling around my feet, there is no time. So I scribble in blurbs here and there to help those who read these pages understand, if only a little._

* * *

Rolling them around in my hands, I stare blankly at them. A part of me was hesitant to see them. Seeing is believing as they say. When I finally got home would I be able to look at my game the same way again? That's assuming I ever got home.

I shook my head vigorously; I was not getting anywhere doing this. I took one ball and dropped it on the ground. Nothing happened. Huh.

I glanced up at Davis confused. He was looking at me strangely, and then obviously trying not to grin said, "You have to expand it first. Press the button in the middle twice."

Bending awkwardly to grab the ball while sitting on the hospital bed, I tried again. When I pressed the button the ball expanded quickly, almost causing me to drop it. It was a very strange feeling, it got bigger but the weight stayed the same. When I pressed the button a second time I heard an audible _click_ and the top swung open with a ball of swirling liquid light in the center. That light stayed still for a fraction of a second then shot to the floor.

The light quickly took shape and creature stood staring at me. Nerve racking experience that. It had suddenly occurred to me that it might not recognize me as its owner. I finally gazed at my first pokemon… HOLY SHIT! It was a giant F***ing RAT! Not cute at all!

It's fur was coarse and wiry looking. It looked like a brown dish scrubber. The teeth and bright red eyes on that thing… The nose twitched and whiskers vibrated. At around a foot tall, Francesca I'm assuming, stood up to look at me. We stared at each other for several seconds before I gathered my courage and smiled, "Hey."

She squeaked and jumped. It took everything in me to not recoil. She ended up on my lap and was …purring? I cautiously reached out and ran my hand over her. Yup as rough to the touch as a plastic scrubber. "Francesca? That's you right?"

She met my eyes again, and bobbed her head. I was once again blown away by the intelligence I saw dancing in there. In this world maybe humans weren't the dominant life form. Still she seemed very friendly.

"Francesca?" I heard a choked voice come from the bed next to me.

I glared at Davis who was shaking with silent laughter. "It was meant to be ridicules okay? I didn't think it would stick…" or be attached to a real living thing…

I gently pushed Francesca off me who was sniffing me all over. It almost seemed like she was checking for wounds. I reached for the next ball a little more confidently. Two clicks later and another ball of light zoomed to the floor.

When the light finally formed into a living creature I was once again taken aback by its appearance. Kvoth looked like a bunch of leaves that happened to be shaped in to a living creature. Like a praying mantises, or a stick bugs. I reached down to touch him, a little less freaked out than I had been with Francesca, and encountered a warm smooth texture like touching sun warm rhododendron leaves.

Kvoth tolerated my touch for a few second before jumping up to the end of my bed. I have to admit the snake like emotionless stare of his was waaay creepy. It looked like he was contemplating eating me.

"How are you doing? Are you pissed at me?" I was curious about his intelligence. Francesca seemed content to stay curled on my lap purring but Kvoth seemed different. More dangerous…

He cocked his head at me and his mouth twitched, a forked tongue escaped his lips as he hissed, in a terrifying human like voice, "Sssnnn." When I say human like I just mean in a way that a human can imitate. Like an owl or parrot or something. Neither said anything that resembled a human word.

Again Kvoth stared at me unblinkingly. "Is that a yes or no to the pissed? Do you hate me?"

Slowly, very slowly, his head shook negatively. I sighed in relief. At least he wasn't gonna eat me in my sleep.

The last pokeball revealed Jefferson. Seriously, I don't think he is a pokemon though. He looks EXACTLY like a silky terrier… Acts like one too, I had to push him off me from licking my face. Discusting.

Davis finally stood up, "You are lucky you managed to get pokemon that have an affinity for humans. Some pokemon take years for them to get used to being in a human environment. I am surprised that your Snivy didn't try to eat your Patrat, and your Patrat is fine in his presence. You are obviously a decent trainer."

I froze and Francesca and Jefferson looked up at me worriedly. That never occurred to me. I glanced at Kvoth. He looked back at me calmly, but I thought with maybe a hint of a smirk? "What do I give them to eat? Pokefood?"

Davis snorted, "Pokefood? Well lilipup and Francesca," he snorted again and I blushed angrily, "can eat kibble from the pokecenter, but predators like snivys eat feeder rattata and things like that. They are bred small for easy digestion. Luckily since snivy are partially photosynthetic they eat a great deal less than most predator pokemon. He probably only needs to be fed once every 2-3 months or so."

This is NOT fair. In the anime Brock made it seem like everything ate berries…

I pointed at Kvoth, "You do NOT eat any of my pokemon 'kay?"

Kvoth blinked lazily and flicked his tongue at me. Yeah, great communication between a starter pokemon and his master…

"Speaking of dinner, I will get you some. It's almost 10:00 at night, you should probably start winding down and we will see how you do in the morning." As he said that his Halo wombat scurried out of the room. Davis started to follow, "I will leave you alone for a bit and I suggest after you eat you rest. See you tomorrow." I waved as he exited. Nice fellow, except for the patronizing thing.

When he was gone I sighed and glanced down at the three pokemon on my bed. What do I do?

I rubbed Jefferson's belly to his delight and looked at Kvoth, "Hey, I suspect you already know I am not sure what's going on here…"

Not to my surprise Kvoth nodded again. "So what's the plan? I figure I am going to need some help surviving this place till I find a way home. Can you put up with me for a bit? You call the shots when I am clueless, but I need to find out about this place. Can we cooperate?" It felt incredibly weird to speak to a creature like an equal, but I had a dark suspicion that Kvoth could kill me if I pissed him off. This was no cutesy pokemon like the game and TV show. This was a powerful sentient creature that had a will of its own.

Kvoth locked eyes with me once more. I tensed, a feeling of being judged rushed over me.

All of a sudden Kvoth burst into motion. In less than a blink of an eye he was on me. I twisted and threw both Jefferson and Francesca sprawling on the floor. My hand lashed out and grabbed him right when he twisted around. His tail coiled around my arm and started constricting. SONOFA …

My other hand came to try to untwist the tail when with a huge rench, my grip was loosened. I just managed to gasp when Kvoth managed to lock his short hands around my ears and then he started pulling. We were face to face. I fell still. If I moved he would rip one of my ears off… In that moment I felt true terror.

We stared at each other for about a minute. Despite the situation, I found the close up view of Kvoth really cool. I could hear Francesca and Jefferson scrambling around on the floor trying to get up on the bed.

"Ssssn Ssssnivvvv…. Hehe" It took me a moment to relieze Kvoth was laughing. The eyes did not change, but I could maybe detect a hint or humor or something akin to it. Anger flooded me. I grabbed his friggin tail and pulled with all my might. It didn't budge. I tried again, this time digging my nails in. "Aggghhh!" The grip of his tail around my arm tightened. I couldn't feel my fingers anymore.

"Okay Okay! You big bad pokemon, me small weak human! I GET IT ALREADY!" I shouted at him. I can't believe a creature weighing only 20lbs or so was creaming me.

Kvoth stared at me some more, completely calm. I let go of his tail and slowly touched the top of his head. "Please, I can't feel my hand anymore." It was humiliating, but a part of me finally realized something. These were creatures of free will, and were much stronger than us. To truly be their "master" we had to make them want to be with us. If they got sick of us they could kill us…

The uncoiling of my arm made me jump, but I didn't move until Kvoth finally got off me. I sat up from my prone position and glanced at him. Once more we stared at each other, but this time there was a feeling of understanding between us. I now knew he expected to be treated like an equal and that he can whoop my ass if he so chose and he now knew that I knew. This was no master and pet relationship. This was more like he tolerated my existence.

My mind flashed back to the summary of him when he was just a picture on my DS. "Gentle?" If this was a gentle snivy, I am hella glad I didn't get a "loves to fight" one…

A wet tongue on my bruised arm made me jump and flinch. Jefferson was bathing my arm and whimpered in distress. He sat up and glared at Kvoth who made that hissing sound of amusement. Francesca joined Jefferson, but stayed slightly behind him. I remembered that snivys could eat patrats…

"Okay guys, why don't we call that a day?" I did NOT want a fight to break out on top of me… Just then Halo the audino came back pushing a tray with a plate piled with strange looking food and two small bowels filled with kibble and seeds.

Halo then swung a bed try over my lap and set the two small bowels of food on the ground. Jefferson and Francesca happily jumped to the floor, crisis forgotten. Kvoth and I snorted at the same time. I glanced at him, and we shared a moment of shared humor before he jumped off the bed to curl up under the lamp on the other side of the room.

My heart finally slowing, I glanced down at the food. There was something that looked like chicken covered in a green lumpy sauce. Next to it was vividly colored poof ball that looked like cotton candy. Terrifying.

I peaked at Halo who was watching me with an expectant face. I quickly glanced down at the food again. My stomach growled… Well, you only live once.

The food tasted normal, like chicken alfredo and the puff ball tasted like fluffy carrots. Weird texture but okay taste. When I finished Halo happily took my plate and the two tiny bowels from the floor and wheeled them out of the room.

Alone again. I stretched, my right arm screaming in pain, and glanced at the pokemon. Jefferson was stretched out on the floor obviously content with life and Francesca was grooming herself. Kvoth was actively ignoring our existence and was absorbing the light form the lamp. "Well I am sleeping. If anyone gets it into their head to kill me in their sleep give me a nudge."

With that I flopped down. I said that, but I wasn't really sleepy. Too much had happened, too much was unknown. Just how the hell did this happen? Why? How was I supposed to get back? Did my parents know I was missing? What happens if I can't get back? What if…


	3. Entry 3

_I opened my eyes to darkness… There was no one around, and nothing to be heard. I took a hesitant step forward, "Hello? Davis? Jefferson? Kvoth…?" I waited staining my ears for an answer. No one._

_My steps came quicker and my calls more desperate. Did I transport again? Was I dead? "Anyone! Answer me dammit!" My footsteps started to echo, the further I ran, the less I saw, I couldn't even see the ground at my feet. Faster…Faster, FASTER! I was gasping, couldn't breathe. I was dead, I knew it, this was how I was going to spend the rest of eternity running mindlessly towards nothing._

_Suddenly a light. Gasping I turned my feet towards it. I didn't care if it was Hell or Heaven, I just needed there to be SOMETHING there! But even though I ran faster, the golden light came no closer… No! This wasn't happening; I just had to run more! I put every iota of will and power I had into my legs. I wasn't going to stay in darkness forever!_

_Just as I was about to collapse, the ground shook. I stumbled to a halt and stabilized myself. The light started to expand; I was able to see again! My eyes closed involuntarily, but after a seconded I opened them, "AAAAGGGHHHHH!" The sight that reached my eyes was ….. it was….. I can't breathe... I CAN'T BREATHE!_

* * *

I bolted up right, sending Jefferson and Francesca rolling to the ground. Huh, so they were the reason for my suffocation… I saw Kvoth sitting on the window over my bed soaking up the early morning sun. When I glanced at him he flicked his tongue lazily.

"You okay?" Davis walked into the room. He was wearing casual clothing and carrying what smelled like two cups of coffee. I reached for one desperately, winced painfully as my right arm extended, and took a grateful sip. Mmmm life…

I examined my arm. It was bruised from my wrist to my elbow and had swollen to almost 1 ½ times the size. It hurt to rotate and to extend. Damn Kvoth.

"Yeah, had a nightmare, don't remember it of course…"

"Pretty common in those who have had head trauma or interference with their minds. Try to record the things you remember and don't stress too much about it." Easy for him to say.

I stretched and swung my legs over the side of the hospital bed. I was wearing those fugly hospital garbs that open at the back. I didn't notice yesterday; I glared at Davis. Dude….

He held his arms up innocently, "Hey this is a hospital, I needed to book you in as a patient. There is procedure for these kinds of things." He reached down by the side of my bed and tossed me a backpack, "I found this with you, your clothes are inside."

Unzipping the bag, I pulled out a bizarre hoody sweatshirt and a normal pair of jeans along with underwear, socks and hiking boots. The sweatshirt was a collage of colors in stripes and checks. It was horrible, was I _really_ wearing this?

I set the clothes on the bed and continued to root through the backpack. I pulled out a cell phone, cans of food that I didn't recognize, an ID badge with my face and name "Rhys Patterson" on it, an electronic device that looked like a Pokedex, and another device that I dimly remember as the XTransceiver; pronounced cross transceiver. On the outside of the backpack a small frying pan and sleeping bag were rolled up. There was also one extra change of clothes stuffed at the bottom. Looks like a homeless persons backpack. I sighed, no pictures of family and the cell phone had no numbers added except "Professor" who I assume was Juniper.

Davis left and I got changed. I was now really hungry and gulped down the last of the coffee. At least the people here where civilized enough for that.

When I walked out of my room, throwing my backpack over my shoulder, I heard three small thumps and skittering noises follow me. I glanced behind me at the three pokmon who followed me, Jefferson wagging his tail, Francesca with her nose twitching and Kvoth who pretended not to see me. "Do you guys mind if I put you guys in the pokeball? I don't want us to get separated." I looked to Kvoth as I said this and waited.

Eventually he nodded, to my surprise, and I pulled out the three balls from my pocket. I clicked one two times and Francesca dissolved into a river of golden light and congealed inside the pokeball. The lid snapped shut and shrunk. I repeated this action with the other two and shoved all three of them in my hoody's pocket.

I turned back out of my room and saw the nurses' desks. Surprisingly, the place was teaming with life. And here I thought that Davis and Halo were the only ones in here. A pretty redheaded nurse at the desk glanced up and smiled, "It is Dr. Johnson's day off today. He said he was going to take you down to the pokemon center to figure some things out with you. He just walked down that hall there and is probably waiting for you. I hope you do okay; the Doctor was really worried for you. We were all a little confused why a head trauma patient was in the cardiology ward, but he seemed to know what you needed. Are you related?" I smiled and shrugged not sure how to answer.

Before she could initiate more conversation I hurried down the hall she indicated. The hospital was full of people walking, talking, laughing crying. Just like any normal busy hospital. If it wasn't for the pokemon I saw at most people's feet and the Audino's I saw pushing beds and wheelchairs, I would never have guessed that this was another world. At the end of the hall there was a pair of huge double door that read EXIT. I increased my pace, feeling slightly fugitive for some reason.

Finally out of the ward, I came into the waiting room. I glanced around and spotted Davis by the elevators talking intently in the phone. This was the first time I actually have seen him annoyed, he looked intense. I was almost hesitant to approach him, so I decided to give him privacy to finish the conversation. Our eyes met, and he nodded at me and held up a finger asking for a moment. I nodded back and decided to do some people watching.

Most of the people here seemed like they were middle class or upper middle class. Actually the more I looked at it, the more things I didn't see. Everyone had clean clothes that fit, no one looked obese or malnourished. What was this, a utopia? Just as that thought entered my mind a little girl burst from the elevator. She was about 10 years old and slightly grubby looking, but not unusually so for a child.

She sprinted to the check in and in-between gasps said, "My daddy needs his heart looked at." The receptionist glanced up and looked at the girl. He didn't smile like usual.

"Does he have a pokemon that can escort him up?" That bizarre question didn't seem to faze anyone, the girl even seem to be expecting it, "No but we are covered by his work…"

Sounded like medical insurance…

"I'm sorry I will have to refer you to the Haffeston Hospital down Aura Avenue. They will take your father; we don't have room for him here." The receptionist glanced down again, completely dismissing the girl.

"But that is 15 minutes away… He needs it _now!_ He is covered; his boss can vouch for him…Please!" The girl was almost in tears, no one was looking at her, and it was as if she didn't exist.

"I'm sorry, we are full." Bullshit, there were plenty of empty rooms I walked past. I was debating about going over and telling the dingbat that when I heard my name called, or my alias whatever.

"Rhys! What are you doing, I've called you like four times! Come on let's bring you down to the Center to figure things out with you." Davis grabbed my arm, luckily not the brused one and started to pull me towards the exit. Looking over my sholder I saw the little girl crying and the dingbat on the phone with someone. There was no emotion on his face.

"Uh Davis, there IS room to admit a guy right?" I glanced at him, "Why aren't they letting that girl's dad have a room?"

Davis stopped and met my eyes surprised, "Because he has not been chosen by a pokemon. If a person doesn't have at least one pokemon, there has to be something wrong with the. Isn't that common sense? Was your mind affected that badly? This might be a problem…" He started muttering to himself and once again started to lead me towards the elevator. I planted my feet.

"Why? That girl seemed perfectly normal to me."

"She might be, the time to bond is around the ages 15-18 give or take, she could eventually bond to a pokemon. It's not hereditary thank Arseus." He completely missed my point.

"No I mean why does not having a pokemon make you bad?" Of all the stupid reasons to be bigoted about…

Davis finally sighed, "You DO remember the class system right? Upper class, middle class and those in poverty?" I nodded. "Well those without pokemon cannot function, or get a job in the areas that are necessary; for example health care needs pokemon that can detect cancer early. Halo can hear blocked arteries. Zubats produce the X-rays, stuff like that. If you don't have a pokemon all you are good for is manual labor, making the choices for a job slim and the pay poor. Our hospital doesn't help those without a pokemon because they will not be able to pay their bills. We have other foundations and charity events to help those without, that family should have taken this into account and gone to one of those not-for-profit hospitals."

This was said matter of factly and not in a completely heartless tone. Looking back at my own city I remember seeing in downtown all the homeless people begging on the streets. Who am I to judge, my world can be just as heartless. I don't really pay attention to panhandlers any more. That thought made my gut twist in guilt, but what can I do about it now?

We reached the elevator and got on. I was quiet for a while thinking thoughts.

Finally we walked outside. I paused for a moment to let the sun warm my face then trotted after Davis who was weaving through the street. Again the town felt like a small villa, there didn't seem to be a place for cars to drive down. When I asked Davis about that he didn't seem to know what cars were! But he knew about trains… Weird.

After a few minutes of walking we reached a huge building with a red and white circle on it. Three guesses on what that was and the last two don't count…

The people rushing in and out were about my age or older. As we entered the building I was swamped by the variety of pokemon in there. There were enormous yellow spiders that were 5 feet tall, human like brown things that looked like doppelgangers who seemed to enjoy carrying heavy objects, and many, many, many more. My heart started to race. None of these creatures looked tame; they all looked like they just tolerated each other. If a fight broke out many would die…

"Cool huh? Let's go to the registration point. We can maybe figure out if you have registered yet and maybe your home town. If not we can go to Professor Juniper and see if she remembers you." Davis dragged the stiff and terrified me over to a booth smack dab in the middle of the room. We had to walk in-between some FREAKY looking things, that I swear all glared at me as I passed.

When we reached the middle, we had to wait in a line for a few minutes until we reached a receptionist. She smiled tiredly at us, "Here to register?"

Davis beamed at her, pulling out all the stops, "Sorry ma'am, my young friend here has come here under some special circumstances. He has recently lost most of his memory, including if he has registered as a trainer yet. Could you do a check for me? And an address for his home would be lovely too."

The lady beamed back at him flirty, "Of course, that sound just terrible." She finally glanced at me, "Can I have a name?"

"Rhys Patterson." Throat tight with panic I handed her my ID thingy. She started to type vigorously and after a few second looked up again, "Yes here you are. You are registered with the Unova region, but I don't have a home address. This isn't unusual, especially what happened over in the Predora region That was quite the disaster. You might have come from over there, or just didn't register a home address. Some kids do that. I am very sorry." She said all this looking at Davis. Heeello…. You are supposed to be talking to me...

Davis kept the interaction flowing and smiled back, "Thank you so much for your time. I know how hard it is at the beginning of the season." The lady fluttered happily and we moved on.

As we walked away, I studied Davis. I guess he _was_ attractive if you liked the elite east coast wasp thing. Which I don't, besides he was like 15 years older than me. "So what now?" I found it strange that Davis was not surprised by any of this.

"Now we go to the professor. We know you are registered and have a pokemon from her, so let's see if she knows."

"What happened in the Predora region?" I recalled what that lady said.

"A huge earthquake. Apparently it borders the Sinnoh region and they have been having problems with one of the Gods, Groudon." We were once again weaving though the traffic of people and pokemon. I was finally starting to get used to seeing them.

We reached the Lab and realized upon glancing around, it looked familiar. This was the place that I saw the first time my DS glitched out. Davis stopped before entering, he held up his phone which was blinking furiously, then glanced at me uncertainly. Understanding the situation I waved him on, I wasn't a baby. He grinned at me and sat down on the curb to answer the phone.

Despite my earlier mental comment, I entered the lab nervously. Gathering my tiny amount of courage I stepped forcefully through the door … straight into someone. We both landed on our butts hard and I heard a female voice cry out.

"Sorry! Sorry!" I hastily stood up, brushed myself off and offered my hand. Which was slapped away angrily.

"Look out. That's what you have eyes for." The girl I had bumped into was very pretty. She had a classic look to her and was very well dressed. A spoiled little princess who was popular with everyone methinks…

"Sorry." I muttered, I mean what else should I have said? Created an argument? She wasn't looking at me either… She gathered herself up and sniffed then walked out the door.

I sighed, this week has sucked so far. I continued towards yet another waiting room and asked the person at the front if I could speak with the professor. No I did not have an appointment, Yes I did have my pokemon already, No I could not wait…

Finally after 10 minutes of stupid circles the receptionist picked up her phone. "Professor? There is a boy here to see you. He said he got his pokemon from you recently and wants to ask you something. His name is Rhys Patterson. Uh huh, yes, yes, alright. Thank you." She turned to me and said sternly, "You will only have ten minutes. Go on back."

Finally! I thanked the lady and hustled to the back room.

* * *

I came to a huge steel door. It had to be 15 feet tall. How the hell did this open? It looked much too heavy for a normal human to open. Just as I was about to try anyway the door started to slowly open. I moved back and saw a human like pokemon standing behind the door. It was almost shark like in coloration and seemed to have a protruding spine that almost made it seem prehistoric reptilian. The combination of reptile, human and maybe dinosaur? made for a very unusual creature.

Surprisingly I knew which pokemon this was, because it was from the first generation. Also the protruding muscles and power belt helped. It was a machoke. It gestured inside.

Upon entering the lab I was vaguely disappointed. There was no test tubes or any other pokemon running around. Just rows upon rows of computers in a stark white room. Pictures what I assume where pokemon ecosystems, anatomical charts and stuff I had no clue about where plastered across the wall. In the back of the room standing next to the biggest computer was two people, a male and female both with their backs turned to me and watching the screen intensely.

"Ummm Professor Juniper?"

Without turning to look at me the lady gestured me forwards.

Hesitantly I made my way over to them. The screen that they were so intently staring at came into view. A swirling vortex of greyness was all I could see, but it seemed to utterly fascinate them. Personally I thought it looked like one of those cheesy screensavers, but who am I to judge.

Finally Juniper turned to me, "Oh hello Rhys honey. Did you need anything?"

I stared at her blankly for a minute, before it finally registers that she knew me. Or at least the me from the Gameboy game. "Um actually yeah kinda. Well um just yeah… so you know me?" Weak. I am so weak.

Professor Juniper blinks, "Of course I know you sweetheart. You are my son. Silly boy, I thought you left days ago. I was wondering why you hadn't called…" She put her hand on my forehead, "Hmmm did you come home because you were too embarrassed to say you were sick? You always had more pride that a single boy should have. You'll get hurt someday."

I took one huuuge step back. Ok, she was my videogame mom, here but not when I was playing the videogame and in that reality I had a real mom waiting for me in the real world. Yeah made total sense. This was not going to help me get back home, I mean she thought I _was_ home! Juniper was starting to look at me worriedly but I needed space for a second.

Apparently in this world "I" am the bratty professor's kid and have started my journey to become a pokemon master. That means that the "me" now had a consciousness before me that wasn't me… In other words the "me" now was once someone else. Does that mean that he is now the real "me" or am "I" the real me? My headache started to return.

"Honey? Rhys? Is something wrong?" If anyone deserved to know the truth about the circumstances, it was the mother. And she was a scientist, maybe she would know some things…

"Professor, look I am not your real son. I don't know if you will believe this or not but my name is Aaron and I come from a place where there is no such things as Pokemon except in games. Somehow I seem to have switched into this world, into an exact twin of me, but it is not me."

I stood up straight and looked her in the eye. I didn't want her thinking this was a joke.

"Rhys… what are you…." She looked confused and taken aback. I wish there was an easy button for this.

"Two days ago I appeared in this world in your son's body and Dr. Davis thinking I had amnesia took me to a clinic. I have been resting there, but now I really want to find a way back home and then you can have your son back."

"I have no idea what you are talking about. That is impossible…" Juniper said slowly.

"Actually there have been documented cases of people coming from other dimensions. Considering that he is saying stuff that is classified information lends one to believe there is some validity to his statement." The man had finally turned away from the screen. He was in his mid-forty's and had brown hair and glasses.

"There was a rip 49 hours ago and you know it Professor. This is the most logical explanation."

Holy crap, maybe there was an easy button. Now I just have to get through her tears, and we can zoom on to find a solution!

"I guess you are right Everett. That is the logical conclusion. Oh how fascinating! To be able to experience an outworlder first hand is an once-in-a-lifetime event!"

Now I realize why she is listed as "Professor" in my phone and not "Mom."

"Come! Come, Aaron, correct? Let's go sit down in my lounge and you can discuss the events that lead to your manifestation." I was forcefully dragged through another pair of steel doors that the machoke opened with superb timing and into a living room like place.

With Everett and Juniper sitting across from me I retold my series of unfortunate events. They asked random questions about what caught my attention at that time and what happened in detail in another. They seemed especially interested in my playing of the game and having the same pokemon in the game as I do now. Tension drained out of my body as I vented.

"May we see your pokemon?" Juniper asked. I had just finished telling my encounter with Kvoth. "Uhh suuure I guess."

I took their balls out and pressed the buttons.

Everett bent down to look at Jefferson and to my utter horror Jefferson let out this low nasty growl.

"Jefferson! No!" I had dogs at home and that was NOT okay!

But Everett looked at me confused, "That is a perfectly normal reaction of a loyal pokemon. Truly bonded pokemon do not tolerate other humans very well. We haven't figured out why, but it seems to be a protective gesture of some sort we hypothesize."

I continued to watch on as they carefully, without touching them, looked at all three of them. Eventually Kvoth became so annoyed he jumped to the back of my chair and hissed menacingly. I would have thought that he would have been more tolerant because he remembered Juniper. Seems not.

"Seems they are all well bonded to you, even the cool Snivy, which takes a long time compared to the other two starters. I think that makes things easier in the long run." Juniper sat up and stretched. "Well anyone what any food or drink while we figure out what to do from here?"

I nodded thankfully, it was noon already. Suddenly I remembered, Davis wasn't here. I sat up, "Davis brought me here, and he might still be waiting for me."

Juniper nodded to the machoke that was standing by the door and it disappeared. "If your friend is outside he will let him in." She passed around sandwiches that were pink and tea that was orange. Yeah the food over here was weird…

When machoke arrived he came up to me and handed me a slip of paper

_Rhys, Sorry about ditching you at the lab, but I was called in for an emergency operation. I have your number and will call you when I'm done. Feel free to come back to the hospital if you need a room for the night. See you soon, Davis_

I glanced up, "He is busy at work and won't be coming."

The two scientists nodded from across the table, "That's fine. We can continue our conversation if that is fin with you."

I nodded vigorously, I want to go home!

Juniper sighed, "You have told us what you know, and now we will tell you what we know about previous outworlders. It is very little and much of it feels very mystical, not based on facts. Nonetheless I will tell you and we can go from there."

Finally, these past two days might soon be ending!


End file.
